How Now Round Cow

My kids like stuffed animals. Anything soft, furry and plush is a candidate for their admiration and ownership. Cute is optional - at least as far as I can tell, but that could just be a difference in opinion. I would say that we are almost overrun with plush. (My husband would say that yes, we are very much overrun with plush. So much so that we should toss 99% of it out. Now. In the trash. Please. And we'll still have too much. But his wish has yet to come true.) At times, we open the kids bedroom door and out pours a pile of plush seven feet tall, scattering across the carpet like the tribbles on that old Star Trek episode. And, by the way, we also own a tribble. It is soft, furry, plush and it wiggles and chitters just like the real thing. (Yes, I know. They aren't REALLY real. But you know what I mean.) The ironic things is that my husband bought it. Yes, he purchased plush despite the fact that he often loudly laments the over-abundance of plush in this house. But it's Star Trek related so I guess that makes it OK.

The kids beds are so full of plush there is almost no room for them to sleep. In fact, sometimes when I check on them in the night, it takes me a minute or so to find them under the piles of fur, plastic eyeballs and whiskers. They are often sweaty and mumbling in their sleep about squirrels in their hair or chipmunks in their pajamas!

But not all of the animals are in the beds. They are also under the beds, next to the beds, in the closets, in the shelves and drawers, scattered willy-nilly across the carpets and sometimes they can even be found in their cereal bowls in the morning:

We even make their clothes out of these things! (OK, not yet, but we could. We have enough. Can't you just see these kids now, covered in a pile of stitched together animals - how cute! And not a subject of ridicule at school at all. Nuh-uh!

There's Mr. Big, a large dog, who is by no means the largest of them, just a sort-of big one. Then of course there is cow-ey and moo-ey. And don't forget the elephants - Ellie Ellie Mushabelly, Ellie Ellie Small Belly, Ellie Ellie Tiny Belly, Ellie Ellie Teeny Belly, Ellie Ellie Puppet Belly, Ellie Ellie Gift Card Belly (and the list goes on). There's Baby Floppy and his brother, Brother Floppy. There's Doggyn, Flippy, Fuzzy, Cutie, Kitty, Doggy, Snow Storm, Sugar Cube, Prickles, Sunny Bear, Towzy, Tiny, Climber, Cupcake, Night, Fuzzbutt, Rainbow Bear, Francesca, Frederick, Bluebell and many many many many many many many many many many many many many many more.

One of my favorites is King Moo-ey. I can't help but exclaim (often and loudly) upon seeing him "HOW NOW ROUND COW!" Isn't he the cutest, roundest, little cow you've ever seen?

Quack!